Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT, only this storyline, my OCs and my artwork.
Unforgivable Habits
Chapter 1
"The old resists the new one.
'Change hurts' is the reason."
― Toba Beta, Betelgeuse Incident: Insiden Bait Al-Jauza
Valentina stared through her port hole window, watching the swooning sunset glide over the cold body of the airplane. Cream landscapes dulled by industry and newly laid tarmac simmered below, the heat of the open sun baking them. Already she had shed her knitted sweater, and was regretting wearing a long sleeved shirt. Her hands ghosted over a loose thread on her right arm, twirling and occasionally tugging it absentmindedly.
She squeezed her hands over her ears to dull the throb of them popping under the swiftly changing pressure as the plane began its descent. As the sleeping passenger next to her groaned and awoke, they stretched, the wide angle of their arms sending an unpleasant odour of fading Lynx deodorant. Valentina glared at the man, though it unfortunately unseen.
Her feet hurt as well as the shoulder that served as a hanger for her bulbous duffel bag. A large chrome suit case rolled behind her, narrowly missing several loose children as she maneuvered herself towards the pick up bay. Her eyes searched for a familiar sign to direct her once she reached the crowd of people awaiting the passengers of her flight.
She took a moment to notice a tall gangly man with messy auburn hair and glasses at the edge, one hand deep in his pocket while the other had his index finger and thumb holding up a sign with 'Morani' in bold. After flickering her blue eyes up to his matching ones, Valentina followed the swinging movement of the sign as she went to meet him.
The older man seemed to be on the cusp of his twenties, awkward and long limbed like herself. With a twitching half smile he asked, "Valentina? It's good to meet you." He shook her hand, quickly letting go once the formality was over. "I'm your cousin Andrew."
"Where's my uncle?" she asked with mild curiosity she couldn't hide. After all she was in a new continent.
Andrew folded the sign and hastily stuck it in the back pocket of his old jeans. "He's actually arriving back in the city tomorrow night. A hunting buddy of his is dropping him off."
Valentina started to wander with Andrew towards the exit, nodding in thanks when he took her suit case. "Does Uncle Harold go hunting often?"
"Oh yeah, it's a big hobby of his." Andrew said, his lilting american accent holding her attention. "Dad tried teaching me when was younger like his dad did for him, but it's not my thing. I only go occasionally for 'family bonding time'." He chuckled, then coughed nervously and hurried onwards when the little girl merely stared back at him. "We cleared out the spare room to be your new bedroom before Dad left. Its pretty good, large and has a good view. The local school's close by as well, only a couple of minutes away..."
Valentina mutely nodded to the rhythm of the conversation, her gut writhing as it prodded her with memories of her old home and family.
The city was loud, its ferocity shaking her nerves even though her only exposure to it was the car ride through the city to her cousin's home. It was three stories high, long and narrow and constructed of a worn grey brick. It stood proudly in a quiet area on the outskirts of the city, a wide circular window in the attic blinking down at them like a cyclops. A thick wall cut a wide rectangle around the property, hiding the small clearing of grass, trees and newly planted flowers in the garden. A metal fire escape ran up the side of the building, secured up out of reach. The foot path from the creaking iron gate lead up the alcove that was held up by two stone pillars, the burgundy door within adorned with a brass lion head with the knocking ring in its mouth.
After Andrew dug around his inner coat pocket and hastily let her in, he went back to close the iron garden gate and followed her. The dry breeze was halted from entering the house as the door clicked shut. "Well, we're here!" He smiled cautiously down at her, the slump of his shoulders showing how glad her was to be back. "Could you take your shoes off? Yeah, just put them in the closet next to you. Any shelf, doesn't matter."
Valentina nodded mutely, doing as he said. She rubbed her feet together against the dark hardwood floor, observing the long corridor that was lit up with old victorian gas lights, though they had been altered to accommodate modern bulbs. The ceiling was high and arched, creating shadows along the upper walls. There was a thick, saturated musk throughout the house, not unpleasant but warm and indicated how old it was. Several closed doors stood, some agar to leave a view of rooms decorated in wine reds and lavish bronzes, thick carpets, dark wood furniture and volumes of books a common sight.
Andrew led her through the door at the end of the corridor, pushing it open to reveal a wide room filled with burly sofas, artwork in wood or metal frames and a dead fireplace, with several small coffee tables and a rust coloured piano in the corner. Valentina brushed her hand along the velvet drapes on the back of an armchair as they passed, following her cousin through a curved archway to the kitchen. Unlike the rest of the decor, it had a cold tone to it; three walls were furnished with dark green cabinets with black counter tops, a few replaced with a fridge and an oven. A small table with four chairs was pushed into one corner, while a black board hung on one cupboard with a box of chalk and a dusty eraser.
"Are you hungry?"
Valentina shook her head, then paused. "Can I have some water?"
He smiled, opening a cupboard full of glasses and mugs and used the water filter before passing it to her. She gulped it down quickly as he talked. "I'll show you how to use the appliances later. Wanna see upstairs?"
"Hn." Was his reply.
The staircase was through another archway in the living room and winded up the entire building with landings for each floor. On the second there was her Uncle Harold's bedroom, the study, the main bathroom and a small library. The top floor, what Valentina had originally thought was the attic from outside, was split into three rooms, though the hallway outside was wider and served as a smaller sitting area with a TV. Apparently Harold thought that television sucked away brain cells or something or other, so Andrew was the only one who ever used it.
There was then Andrew's bedroom, a bathroom for them to share and Valentina's own bedroom. The room like the rest of the house was handsome with a comfortably large bed, a wardrobe and a classic writing desk with a chair, all made of the same dark indian rose wood with an ochre pattern of wildflowers and vines. Most of the walls held empty shelves. The floor was of timber and creaked, though a few thick carpets lay around. It contained the cyclops window, with several layers of thick rouge and gold drapes that matched the bed's own duvet and pillows. The window pane jutted out, the curve of the wall hugging it in a secluded oval shape. A worn oil painting hung above the desk, depicting some greek titan pulling itself from out of the rubble of a crumbling mountain. Like the rest of the top floor, the walls were exactly the same as the outside, a dark grey brick with thick timber beams supporting it.
"This used to be my big brother's room." Andrew informed her as he leaned in the doorway.
Valentina looked around the room, trying to imagine a taller version of her cousin, perhaps with a more weathered face and a beard. She wasn't too surprised to find out she had another family member that she never knew existed; her parents had been very secluded from the rest of her relations for various reasons. "Where is he now?"
"Jonathan's in the army, stationed in South Korea at the moment. He doesn't tell us much about it, only that he's part of the SOF." Andrew answered. "He writes to us when he can though, and I think it's better than being in Iraq with IS at the moment."
"What made him join?" Valentina mused, her face tilted to watch a woman passing their house through the window.
Andrew chuckled. "Not a clue. Johnny never said a thing about ever wanting to. He went to college, got a degree in engineering then came home one day say that he had enrolled instead of signing up for a masters. Dad was not happy about that."
"Not a patriot?" Valentina said, not particularly bothered whether he was or not, but supposed that she should know this new family a little better.
"Only as much as the next guy. Dad's proud of him and all, but he worries. None of us were ready for him to leave like that." Valentina didn't answer, turning her back as again. It seemed that she was done talking for the day, but considering how she had been before and what social services had said to him about her behaviour, Andrew was happy with the amount of interaction.
"I'll bring your bags up." He offered.
His gaze saddened as he watched the younger girl look around helplessly in her new world, but after receiving her curt nod, decided to leave her alone.